“The Russian Thing” and the Threat of War

He spent political capital by firing Acting Attorney General Sally Yates und FBI Director James Comey for not buckling under his pressure tactics; he lost moral authority by bullying Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others for the same reasons.

Trump and his supporting cast do not merely spin reality, they outright lie.

And yet “the Russian thing” becomes more threatening by the day--for President Trump and for members of his family and his supporting cast.

Even Mr. Trump must now fear the truth in the German proverb: Lies have short legs…

Judging from some Republicans’ warnings, Trump would be ill advised to follow his urge to fire AG Sessions to clear the way for removing Special Prosecutor and former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

That’s why there is reason to worry about Trump’s next possible steps to remove “the Russian thing” from media and public attention.

One sure way to put “the Russian thing” on the back burner would be a major foreign policy crisis—especially one involving military conflict. As we know all too well, in such crises both newsrooms and the public tend to rally around the flag and around the president.

That’s why Senator Lindsey Graham’s revelation that Mr. Trump contemplates military actions against North Korea is so worrisome. According to Newsweek, Graham said, "There will be a war with North Korea over their missile program if they continue to try to hit America with an ICBM. [Trump] has told me that. I believe him, and if I were China, I would believe him too."

Of course, North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities are major threats to many countries’ national security—including ours. Trump told Graham, “If thousands die, they’re going to die over there. They’re not going to die here.”

First, then, this president makes clear that he does not care about foreign victims of war and second, he seems unaware that tens of thousands of U.S. troops are deployed near the border between the two Koreas.

With the diplomatic capabilities of the Department of State dangerously curtailed, key positions in the department and in missions overseas not filled, the prospects for skillful diplomacy are slim. Add to that an inexperienced Secretary of State who seems to be dodged by Trump’s son-in-law and others in the White House.

So, yes, there is reason to worry about “the Russian thing” and the real possibility of war.

Two months ago, I wrote a post titled “In Trump’s Reality Show Even the Generals Surrender.” In spite of retired general John Kelly’s move from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to the White House, the post remains as relevant today as it did at the end of May. None of the three generals, besides Kelly the National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, pushed back against the man in the Oval Office.

I am not sure they would against the order to go to war.

As boss at DHS Kelly in particular showed affinity for Trump’s over-the-top policies and enforced them zealously. In The New Yorker Jonathan Blitzer wrote the other day in an evaluation of Kelly’s six month as boss of DHS,

“At D.H.S, Kelly rejected the idea that the agency owed explanations to anyone, least of all to Trump’s critics on the Hill or in the press. In May, at a Coast Guard event, a microphone caught Kelly telling Trump, who was holding a ceremonial sword, that he should ‘use that on the press, sir.’ Kelly has publicly defended Trump and his family on several occasions since taking office, often in noticeably personal terms. In testimony before Congress, Kelly said that Trump had shown real ‘wisdom’ with his travel ban, while the critics were wasting their time ‘debating’ the semantics of what it was called. In May, when news broke that during the transition Jared Kushner had tried to set up a backchannel line of communication with Russia, Kelly spoke on his behalf. ‘I don’t see any issue here relative to Jared,’ he said, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” ‘I think any time you can open lines of communication with anyone, whether they're good friends or not-so-good friends, is a smart thing to do.’”

I wonder why so many in Washington and elsewhere expect that the new chief-of-staff will make decision-making in the White House more normal and safer for America and the world.